jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 3, 2024 23:09:16 GMT -8
All things considered, after seeing what some others have uncovered i count myself blessed. the amount of rot that i had paled in comparison to what other poor souls have discovered. plus with my skillset fixing things was everyday life for me. KIMG5860 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this was keeping the door from sagging KIMG5869 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr the entire lower framing inside the door had actually rotted out and had to be rebuilt KIMG6032 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20200418_173319 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210213_215155 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this was kinda interesting. the inside finished veneer was the last layer of veneer to have not completely rotted through in some places. 20200418_172606 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr i'm sure its not news to anyone here that the skin holds things together sometimes 20210404_145030 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr since i was replacing the ceiling with beefier joists i used the old ones for other framing fixes 20210213_215146 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr funny how the mice had actually chewed thru some of the cieling joists to make them almost round in some areas 20200418_172613 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20200418_172542 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr pretty much delaminated thru 20210404_144950 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20200418_172708 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210213_215151 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr i actually replaced these ceiling joists with wider and taller peices or fir that i tapered from the center out to give it a little more snow load for nw montana. i was really hoping for the outcome that by making the center taller to shed water better that it wouldnt effect the roof skins ability to cover the sides again, it worked, although you could tell that it had slightly covered less than original. 20210213_215106 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr By the way, for anyone new to restoring anything, trying to do everything in the area of a twenty by twenty garage with most of it taken up with the trailer and workbenches, your in for a treat. 20230701_215319 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this is what my work space looked like most of the time, 20200418_172537 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr seeing this stuff is how i learned how these are built. 20210404_145010 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210213_215203 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr KIMG6049 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr the gaping hole from the furnace hack 20230714_151141 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr the finished frame up of the door with insulation foam. 20210404_145038 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr replacing some rot 20210214_140150 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210409_191643 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210409_191702 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr I had just replace the ceiling panels, hoping the color of shellack would be not so noticable 20230623_231724 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20230623_231738 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr I cheated on this one, its actually u-lay material that i used here, this was probably because it was at the height of the stupid building materials shortage skyrocket price gouging. I think what i am going to do here is start making a thread for each part of the restoration, i.e. windows, door, interior.....that way this doesnt get boring for you. im new at his stuff, sorry for the spelling, i still type with my index fingers only and never look at the screen.
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newin62
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1962 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by newin62 on Feb 4, 2024 4:24:33 GMT -8
Beautiful trailer! You were lucky to find it in that condition. I love everything about it, especially all of those spacious rounded cabinets.
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Post by Teachndad on Feb 4, 2024 6:28:01 GMT -8
Jesse, CONGRATULATIONS! On soooo much! You got your photos to post! and you figured out how to start the restoration as well as show your progress. Nicely done! You clearly have perseverance in you to have gotten you this far. It's A LOT of work to post upload, post and write captions for all those pix. Someone needs to go out to NW Montana and give this guy a beer. Sheesh! I for one, like watching the progress of a restoration as you posted in one place - pix with brief captions. You are taking us on a journey. People here want to see this stuff, that's why we are here. We are part of a community. I don't think it was boring. I rather enjoyed it. I sat down with my morning cup of java and your thread helped me get into the morning. Keep it comin! Rod Check your PM's
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 7:56:21 GMT -8
Thank you so much. It's good to hear support from like minded people. Glad it wasn't boring, that's probably just in my head.. anyway, glad to be here. Hope I can help at least one person in one way.
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 7:58:52 GMT -8
Beautiful trailer! You were lucky to find it in that condition. I love everything about it, especially all of those spacious rounded cabinets. Yeah, totally love the rounded cabinets, just glad they were all in such good shape..
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 8:10:21 GMT -8
If I may, somehow, I'd like to figure out how to make a few tutorials, maybe I mean updated tutorial on starting out in this whole forum thing. One thing I learned last night was that photos won't appear unless they are made public in Flickr. Now that being said, most people probably know this but guys like me are twenty years behind the curve and find computers completely infuriating. Again, that being said, now I may need to buy a laptop so I don't have to borrow my son's everytime that I want to post a picture. Little things like that turn a simple task into a nightmare. I want to again thank you all for your patience and help here on my end. Looking forward to chatting 😀
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 10:25:47 GMT -8
20221013_191527 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr My wife said she wanted a bright sunny atmosphere inside so i went with sunshine yellow and glacier white. 20221018_175049 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr It definately does make it brighter, sadly the original marmoleum was actually in good shape but for some reason they chose to make it in a dirt brownish grey color, and even though im all about original i didnt like it. 20221013_191504 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Side note here: if you need to replace the front panel, i highly recomend leaving that panel and window out as long as possible. It sure makes it easier going in and out 7,000 times. You can see in this pic also the cabinet that i rebuilt for the kitchen sink there on the left. also, as good as it may look, and maybe a little easier install, i will never put vct tile down in a trailer again. theres just to much movement in the floor. it may seem rigid there is some flex and some tile lines did drift on me, and i havent even towed it yet, thats just from walking in and out. ive layed quite a bit of vct in my time and didnt really have that much drift. KIMG6043 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this wardrobe closet was hacked into for a propane furnace, 20240204_095328 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr so i had to build a new door for that and the two bottom doors. i like to think that if you diddnt know you would never be able to tell. but for those in the know its obvious. the marvel fridge didnt actually come with the trailer, it came from a very kind and generous man who had an earlier maybe late 40s aljoa that he let me part out. thats a whole other post. KIMG6042 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr i also took the liberty of remodeling the kitchen, the broom closet on the left had so much urine soaked plywood that it needed to be replaced. By completely removing it , it opened up the space a little, and i knew that i was never really going to cook indoors and never ever use the oven, it was just wasted space. i thought about moving the counter up front like some models have and put a toilet in the front left corner, but wifey said she'd rather have the room, so i removed the dixie and built a new cabinet exactly as the old one but wider. in fact i was able to reuse the doors and drawer fronts. my hope was that any one who looked at it wouldnt even notice that it wasnt original 20240204_095147 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240204_095801 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr original sink in great condition with a new drain 20240204_095603 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr i'm going to just use water jugs under the sink and pump out of one and drain into the other rather than any external tanks, as well as a valve to switch to shore. 20240204_095453 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr my bonus cabinet where the broom closet was 20240204_095654 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr rather ingenious method to keep drawers from sliding out 20240204_095639 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240204_095631 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20210410_121305 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr the old drawers were just to contaminated to reuse so i built new ones using the old for a pattern and reused the fronts. gave them a good shellackin 20240204_095615 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr new cutting board with mineral oil
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Post by vikx on Feb 4, 2024 12:02:59 GMT -8
Beautiful! I love your picture story.
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 13:36:24 GMT -8
Beautiful! I love your picture story. thank you
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 14:44:02 GMT -8
After reading some other posts of the tragedies that have happened on the way home i count myself yet again blessed. I completely knew better than to travel home on wheels such as this, but I took the chance. I drove bout 300 miles at 40 mph. Very long trip. Not very smart, very lucky KIMG5179 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr KIMG5180 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr tire rot I thought to make a bit more room in the cabin that i could convert the full size bed into a sort of goucho. this way, theoretically instead of just one person sitting at the edge of the bed, three could actually sit there now. KIMG6044 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr as it were 20240204_094528 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr slid back in, you can also see here where my AC vents into the cabin. 20240204_094544 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr slid out position, the 'wall/skirt' stays in place and the top slides out 20221029_184122 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr with a mattress on it in the couch position 20240204_094616 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this cute little block covers the area where the trunk door overlaps. i still need to put gimp inbetween the vct and the cabinet, doing it backwards i know. 20240204_094647 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr and inside the trunk I really wanted to have the option of having an air conditioner for the very rare occasion that we would be on shore power, but i wanted the exterior to look as original as possible, and as ingenious as i have seen people disguise them i wanted it to be invisible. So i started by cutting out a new door right where other models would have had a door, its actually framed for it, it just never had a door there. I fabricated a new door to look exactly like the other side with the exception of a modern hinge like you would see on an aluminum or fiberglass topper. 20240128_174340 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20221024_224319 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr I made a 'boot' for it to slide into and out of from open to closed position. 20221024_224358 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Mounted to 2 drawer glides, slid in 20221024_224341 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr And out 20221024_224336 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20221024_224446 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr slid out 20240128_174340 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240128_174355 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr slid in... 20240128_174420 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr slid out, the door just rests on top, i'll need to put a handle on the unit to aid in pulling it out. I have it wired to a switch in the cabinet beside the bed.
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 4, 2024 16:09:28 GMT -8
For any of the areas inside the cabin that still stunk like mice i did a very careful job to clean it all with a bleach spray, very effective at getting rid of the lingering mouse odors. however i do believe that it did whiten some areas of the wood. While i did not notice it right away i noticed that in days to follow it appeared more "bleached'. 20221013_193535 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr You can see in this pic where some of the plywood turned a shade pale. mice had made a home inthe pullman seats and this area was pretty nasty. KIMG5903 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr some areas were just not going to be able to be replaced, such as those fabulous curved cabinets. so when they were down i cleaned them and sanded them and then gave them a very healthy several coats of shellack. I rebuilt this cabinet interior the same as before but without the range hood vent that was in reality just a passage for air flow. 20240204_094804 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr My inverter is over there on the left 20240204_095003 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr the table that was here was just pulled out of another camper with the round post bolted to the floor, so i made another, i didnt have any resources yet to let me know proper size si i did my best, 20240204_095058 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr there was nowhere on planet earth to find the original masonite or marlite that was used on the counters but this pattern most closely resembled the original. 20240204_095052 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr I found this type hinge pretty easily, but i'm still in need of a piece of cove for between the counter and wall if anyone has a source. 20210404_145056 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr The skin on the roundover was delaminated so i shot some urethane glue back there and clamped it up, good as new. KIMG5927 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Its really unfortunate that these are ruined from the inside. perfect on the outside, but man oh man are the stained from the mice on the inside. the only thing to do here is to use them as a pattern and make new ones. 20221122_094540 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr took everything down to the bare wood, sanded them down, shellacked, start over 20221206_184450 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr make sure you use the correct materials, i got this from joans fabric and allthough it is burlap it is very loose and stretched way to easily, fail. 20221206_184445 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20221208_165415 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr going back together 501e2fd32a9692ef9193d4462604a11c by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr this is not mine but from pinterest, someone had an all original 'survivor' aljoa, still had stickers on the mica looking fiberglass lamp shades and all, i found an exact match for the fabric for the benches so eventually thats what mine will look like. 20240204_095328 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr I actually just installed this yesterday, finished restoring it last week. it came from a donor trailer that just so happened to be an aljoa just a few years older than mine. unfortunatly the oil had all leaked out of the compressor and it will cost a lot to fix, so for now i pulled it out untill a later date although i'm thinking of using modern componants now. 20240204_095319 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr So to use the space wisely i turned it into something of a bread drawer or whatever. 20240128_174232 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240128_174217 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240128_174210 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240123_221718 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Having a buffing wheel is a must for these projects 20240118_180613 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr The pan had contact paper holding all the moisture in so there was some heavy pitting going on there. 20240123_221706 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240123_221724 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Im showing this picture to illustrate a story, after painting the fridge with rustoleum appliance enamel paint my garage started to stink, bad, couldnt figure it out, then i happened upon one of y'alls post about restoring one and the paint had a bad reaction with the treated cardboard, so I went out and gave it a wiff, and yuppers, that thang stank! i dont know why but that paint reacts with the cardboard treatment and stinks. Shellack to the rescue. 20240121_212351 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr 20240121_212324 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr these were so brittle only one survived, they seal the gap inside the opening, if anyone has had luck finding a replacement i'd be much appreciated. 20240204_170536 by Jesse Kunda, on Flickr Since i'll just be using it as an ice box for a while i plugged the holes for the cold unit up yop with some acorn nuts to keep it clean
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newin62
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1962 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by newin62 on Feb 5, 2024 2:49:03 GMT -8
Hi Jessie,
Don't give up on the seat covers just yet. I had the same mouse issue with mine and I sprayed Fantastik cleaner (the blue bottle with bleach) on the filthy inside fabric backer and the stains and smell melted away in a few minutes. I used 2 bottles for each cover and after a good soak and rinse in the bath tub I washed them in a front loading washer on delicate. I then had to soak them in hot water and lay them flat to get the wrinkles out but they came out like new.
I also had a hard time finding 1/2" aluminum cove molding locally so I ordered it from Outwater Industries. I think they will ship up to 6' lengths.
Peter
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jester76
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1954 Aljoa sportsman
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Post by jester76 on Feb 5, 2024 9:49:34 GMT -8
Hi Jessie, Don't give up on the seat covers just yet. I had the same mouse issue with mine and I sprayed Fantastik cleaner (the blue bottle with bleach) on the filthy inside fabric backer and the stains and smell melted away in a few minutes. I used 2 bottles for each cover and after a good soak and rinse in the bath tub I washed them in a front loading washer on delicate. I then had to soak them in hot water and lay them flat to get the wrinkles out but they came out like new. I also had a hard time finding 1/2" aluminum cove molding locally so I ordered it from Outwater Industries. I think they will ship up to 6' lengths. Peter Thanks for the advice. I,ll give it some thought. i'll look into that cove supplier, i found one that shipped out 12 ft section for an expensive price.
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Happy Camper
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1963 Shasta Deluxe Airflyte
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Post by Happy Camper on Feb 5, 2024 11:15:13 GMT -8
Thanks for posting all your awesome work. Great Job. It should inspire others
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turbodaddy
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17' 1965 Fan "Sunseeker"
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Post by turbodaddy on Feb 5, 2024 19:40:44 GMT -8
A very inspirational and well done project. Thanks for having the patience to share.
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